HUNTSVILLE – In a rain-shortened night, the Sam Houston Bearkats dropped a 3-1 decision to Northern Colorado in their third game of the Bearkat Softball Classic. Saturday night’s game against Washington was postponed.

The Bears (5-3) put up a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth and got a complete game from starter Valerie Vidal to hand the Kats (1-6) defeat. The Kats used three pitchers in the game, with Lindsey McLeod taking the loss in relief, despite punching out five in 3.1 innings of work.

Megan McDonald had a pair of hits in the game, while Tiffany Thompson had a hit an RBI. Kayte Martinez, Megan Crosby and Kaitlynn Dawson also recorded hits.

Following the postponement of play on Saturday night the Kats will now square off with No. 4 Washington at 12:15 on Sunday afternoon before a rematch with the Bears is set for 2:30 p.m. to close the event.

Sunday’s play will begin with Washington taking on Wichita State at 10:00 a.m.

SCORING SUMMARYBottom 1st Freshman Annie Bailey got into a little trouble after three walks in the inning but finds her way out after she had two runners on base and forces the batter to swing and miss for the third out.

Bottom 2nd Northern Colorado got their first run on the board by help from a double in the left gap from Sophia Taylor on the fifth pitch with one out. After a Bearkat pitching change to ace Lindsey McLeod she catches the last two outs swinging with runners on base.

Bottom 3rdThe Bearkats found themselves in trouble with loaded bases with no outs but McLeod battled back to three straight outs with two popped up and one looking.

Bottom 5th The Bears looked to add insurance to the 1-0 lead as Lauren Paige blasted a double to center field with one out. Next up, Emma Brockmann showed her prowess as she fired a homer over center wall adding two.

Top 6thThe Bearkats were able to generate some offense after a Kayte Martinez single and Tiffany Thompson triple. The Bearkats were able to reduce the Bear’s lead to two runs.

Top 7thMegan McDonald was able to get a single but the Bearkats could not capitalize on the chance.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME Crosby led the Bearkat lineup with two runs batted in off her third career triple on a 1-for-4 night. Martinez, Thompson and Carpenter each had two hits for the Bearkats as well.